Servicing

The drive to reform the government-sponsored enterprises is raising two questions that could fundamentally reshape the way borrowers obtain mortgages: will a revamp effectively eliminate the 30-year fixed rate mortgage, and would that be a good thing?

Clayton Holdings LLC this week announced that it has hired a team of structured finance professionals to run a new independent financial analysis and consulting group focused on providing litigation support and valuation services to players in the residential MBS market.

Smaller, thinly capitalized investors in nonperforming mortgages could face liquidity concerns in the coming months as private equity investors begin to re-examine their commitment to the business while bolting for higher returns elsewhere.

Federal regulators are making it difficult for issuers of all types of mortgage-backed securities to escape the costs of risk retention. The rules officially unveiled Tuesday morning prohibit MBS issuers from receiving upfront compensation based on excess spread through an interest-only tranche or premiums bonds.

Hudson City Bancorp, a top ranked mortgage lender in the Northeast, said it has completed a "restructuring" of its balance sheet that reduced its high-cost borrowings and should allow for "increased future net interest income."

Federal banking regulators began leaking copies of their much anticipated mortgage risk retention rules on Monday — with very few surprises contained in the final proposed language except for one: where Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fit in.

Walter Investment Management Corp. on Monday agreed to buy Green Tree Servicing, St. Paul — a specialty servicer — and its parent company in a deal valued at just over $1 billion.

A federal judge said Deutsche Bank AG and a unit of BNP Paribas SA can proceed with legal claims against Bank of America, according to a report by Dow Jones.

KBW Inc., New York, on Monday placed 14 real estate investment trusts in its first ever 'REIT Dividend Honor Roll.'

J.I. Kislak Mortgage LLC, Miami Lakes, Fla., on Monday named industry veteran Felix Beck as an advisor to the fast growing company.